SINGAPORE — Parents who had abused, neglected and abandoned their children will now have to declare this to a tribunal and seek its permission before they can seek maintenance from the children, after Parliament passed a Bill which aims to prevent re-traumatising these victims, among other things. 

Previously, such parents can immediately file a claim for maintenance from their children, which have caused the children significant distress and re-traumatisation in having to go through the proceedings.

On Tuesday (July 4), 15 Members of Parliament (MPs) spoke in a three-hour debate on the Private Member’s Bill to amend the Maintenance of Parents Act, with some raising concerns such as whether these children would be able to prove unrecorded abuse, especially those which happened in the past.

A Private Member’s Bill allows any MP to initiate legislation or legislative changes.

The Bill is a product of a series of public consultation exercises by a workgroup led by MP for Marine Parade Group Representation Constituency (GRC) Seah Kian Peng and eight other MPs, set up in January last year to review the law.

In his opening speech during the debate, Mr Seah said that currently, about one in four cases of the Office of the Commissioner for the Maintenance of Parents, and one in three cases at the Tribunal for the Maintenance of Parents, involved persons who alleged abandonment, abuse, or neglect by their parents when they were young. 

The majority of such cases seen by the tribunal were dismissed, as the existing Section 5(4) of the Act allows the tribunal to dismiss any claim of maintenance or order a lower amount if there is sufficient proof of abuse by the parents. 

But it still required the child to go through proceedings that may have already caused significant distress, Mr Seah said.

He added that since the Act was passed in 1995, it has dealt with around 2,500 cases. Last amended in 2010, the law provides for elders who are unable to financially maintain themselves adequately, so that they may have a legal channel to seek maintenance from their children.

FOUR AMENDMENTS TO PROTECT ABUSED CHILDREN, DESTITUTE ELDERLY PARENTS

Under the new amendments, the following four changes will be enforced, as recommended by the workgroup:

• Parents with records of abandonment, abuse or neglect against their child must declare this to the tribunal and seek its permission to file maintenance claims
• The president and deputy president of the Tribunal for the Maintenance of Parents will be empowered to dismiss frivolous or vexatious applications, without informing or involving the child
• The Commissioner for the Maintenance of Parents is empowered to have the child attend conciliation sessions if there is no evidence that their parents were abusive so that they can listen to the child’s side of the story, discuss care arrangements for their destitute parents, and encourage to support them
• The tribunal is empowered to make non-monetary directions, such as attending counselling sessions 

ABUSED CHILDREN MAY REQUIRE SUPPORT IN PRODUCING EVIDENCE OF ABUSE

Parents are required to declare any records of abuse, abandonment or neglect against the child they are asking for money from and the Commissioner for the Maintenance of Parents will also check official databases for such records.

These include personal protection orders and criminal convictions.

If there is a lack of official records, the child would need to be be called upon to give an account to the tribunal of what they had suffered in the past. 

MPs Louis Ng of Nee Soon GRC and Yip Hon Weng of Yio Chu Kang Single Member Constituency raised concerns over whether such children could provide sufficient evidence for abuse, particularly for those who do not have official records against their parents.

Mr Ng said that such lack of official records could be an issue due to the underreporting of child abuse cases.

Mr Yip added that such underreporting may be caused by norms which were more prevalent in the past that considered familial violence as private matters and should not be reported. 

In response, Mr Seah said that the tribunal proceedings will hear all parties and consider all circumstances of the case, including the form and extent of abuse and neglect.

In addition, the evidence that is furnished to the tribunal is not limited to official records, and can consist of oral or written recollection of the abuse incidents from the perspective of the child.

“I want to assure members that both the commissioner and tribunal are mindful of unreported cases and will adopt a trauma-informed approach in sensitively supporting them through the whole process,” said Mr Seah.

SOME PARENTS MAY REQUIRE NON-MONETARY SUPPORT

Several MPs also raised concerns about addressing the non-monetary needs of parents that may be just as important as getting maintenance from their children. 

Ang Mo Kio GRC MP Ng Ling Ling, Radin Mas MP Mr Melvin Yong and Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Social and Family Development Eric Chua said that some parents may need help to address deep-seated issues, such as addiction, which may be the main problem rocking the family. 

Ms Yeo Wan Ling of Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC asked if such non-monetary directions can be given in the early stages of conciliation.

In response, Mr Seah said this was possible, and that the new changes will empower the tribunal to mete out non-monetary directions. 

In his closing speech, Mr Seah said that the four amendments are timely to address two issues of destitute parents with children who have the means, and children who were abused, neglected or abandoned but were sought by their parents to provide maintenance. 

“The Act when it was first passed was to solve the practical problem of maintenance for needy elderly parents. That is very much still the core of the Act today, but time and experience have revealed how often this practical problem cannot be resolved in isolation from other issues in the family relationship,” he said.